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Yoga Adjustments and Exercises for Office Workers

May 10, 2015 heather

Good morning and Happy Mother’s Day! I’m sitting at my parents’ kitchen table, listening to their gargantuan fridge make creepy noises, looking out over their grassy lawn, past the farm across the road, and skimming over the undulating fields speckled with farm houses and tree, topped by a blue, lavender, and white sky It’s a pretty site to see in the morning – better than the row of houses and garages that I see from our house in the morning. It’s very convenient living in the center of town, but I miss the quiet and the views of the country. Maybe Tim and I can start following the www.mrmoneymustache.com way of life (save 40%+ of our income) and retire to a cute little country house somewhere before we are 65. With a massive garden and a solid internet connection, we’d be all set.

Anyway, I digress. I really meant to talk about 2 things this morning. 1. My experience assisting one of my YTT friends with her Community class yesterday, and 2. Some final notes from Max’s day-long intensive.

My friend, Angela, taught her first Community class at Indigo yesterday, and I offered to be her second – someone to walk around and adjust people and to just generally help out. As I was doing it, I realized that for me personally, just standing at the front of the class telling people how to do the asanas is easier than walking around and adjusting them! Adjustments are so much more personal. I really hate conflict, and even though giving adjustments is a beneficial and helpful thing to do, to me it still feels a bit like you are telling the student they are doing something wrong. CONFLICT. It’s hard for me to do! Also, I find that it’s hard to clearly communicate how you want the student to alter their behavior. I think that comes primarily from talking quietly, so as to not disturb the whole class with the one-on-one instruction. I am kind of whispering, and the student is kind of whispering, and neither one of us is really understanding each other.

After the class ended, one of the students asked me for some help with her downward dog. Now THAT – just having one student who you could fully explain things to – was more my cup of tea. So far, I do not like giving adjustments in a class setting, but I do like giving them one-one-one, where I can more clearly communicate with the student.

As with all things that make me uncomfortable, it was a good learning experience though. I am sure that the more times I do adjustments, the more comfortable I will feel with them. We only have 3 YTT weekends left, and it sounds as if we are going to be doing A LOT of practice adjustments during that timeframe. At first I was kind of disappointed because, honestly, giving adjustments is my least favorite part of the training. I would rather be DOING yoga, learning about the philosophy, learning about anatomy, or learning about sequencing. But after Wednesday night, I realize that I really do need more experience in this area.

Hmm. This is already kind of a long post. Let me just tie this up with a few more quick tidbits from Max’s class. There are still a ton of points to cover, but I want to focus on the tips he gave us for office works, since that’s a pool of folks I’m interested in teaching.

If you have an office job, I’m sure you are already familiar with the effects on your neck, back, and shoulders of staring at a computer all day. Everything gets tight and weak, and the whole front of your chest starts to collapse. Max taught us a few asanas that are good for stretching and strengthening these areas.

Cow face arms. Here is a really good tutorial. Max says to do this exercise for 60 seconds on each side twice. If you work at an office, buy a strap and do this 3 times a day (while you are sitting in on yet another boring conference call, perhaps 🙂 ). I need to talk to my fellow Wellness Team committee members at work about getting some of these straps for our employees!
Reverse Tabletop. The arms and shins should both be vertical – you may need to step your feet out farther than you think to get the correct alignment in this pose. Point your fingers out to the side, then back towards the head, and finally towards the feet. Make sure knees don’t splay out or in. If you have wrist issues, you can sit cross-legged and put your hands behind you, testing out the different hand positions.
Downdog. Max had some good suggestions for people (like me) who cannot get their heels to the mat. Bring your feet wider (as wide as your mat, even), and elevate the hands using a stair step or a block. Practicing this way will help you eventually get your heels to the floor.

And that’s it for today! I hope you enjoy your Sunday!

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Random Yoga Teaching Tips

May 8, 2015 heather

It’s Friday! I am so glad. It’s been a trying week, being back in the real world after a weekend of chilling out in Blissland and then having Monday off. I’m definitely ready for the weekend.

This morning I’m going to share a few quick tips that I learned in Max Strom’s Inner Axis day-long intensive.

Breath work affects our minds more than the postures.
The fastest way to improve your speaking skills is to record yourself. Max records himself teaching a class 2 times a week. He uses a small recorder slipped into an arm band. Then he actually listens to it and essentially takes his own class to see how it flows. Do any of you do this? If so, how do it? What tools do you use?
1. Take responsibility to say exactly what you mean.
2. Don’t talk too softly or too quickly.
3. Be careful about raising your voice at the end of a sentence. This makes you sound as if you lack confidence. This is something I need to work on, especially at work!
Probably about 1/3 of our class attendees is sleep-deprived. A lot of this is due to the blue light emitted from electronic devices. The light makes our brains think the sun is still up, so the brain doesn’t secrete melatonin, and we can’t fall asleep and STAY asleep. Help people by teaching a class that helps people sleep better.
1. Here is a tip I’ve read from other sources – wear a pair of orange goggles at night. The orange will block the blue light. Tim and I both wear these when we look at our e-devices at night. You look kind of nuts, but it helps you sleep!
Teach from a universal platform.
1. Be careful with religious decorations in the studio (no Buddha statues in the bathroom!).
2. Be careful of mentions of specific Gods or religions. You can have a very spiritual class without mentioning any specific religion. Be inclusive so everyone feels comfortable.
3. Teach all levels of a posture – easiest to more difficult. The most difficult postures should be taught one-on-one, not to the whole class.
Adapt to your students – teach what they need.
Teach the WHY. Why breathe from the chest? Why position your body in this certain way? Why do yoga at all? Inquiring minds want to know. 🙂

Research has shown that people can only easily remember 5-7 items, so I’m going to stop there. Granted, I kind of cheated because I have sub-bullets in there, but I’m leaving them!

Hope you have a fabulous Friday and that you can get outside, get some sun, and that you can spend time with people you love today.

Cooking/Recipes, Health & Fitness, Paleo, Uncategorized

An experiment with Sprinting

April 6, 2015 heather

Everywhere I turn, I see an article about the benefits of interval training. Off and on I will do some sprint intervals, but I haven’t gotten very focused with it. I’ll do maybe one interval session per month. Well, my monthly interval session came due on Wednesday, so Tim and I and a friend headed out to the bike bath.

We walked about 10 minutes before our first sprint. For the first sprint we ran all-out for 15 seconds. We walked until we got our breath back and then repeated the 15 second sprints 5 more times. I think we were back home within 30-40 minutes.

I did not warm up as I should, and with my first sprint, I felt a knot in the top of my quad. But I powered through, which could have been really stupid. By the time I got home, it felt like a rock was lodged in my leg. I spent the rest of the evening rolling it out with the foam roller.

The next day I felt pretty good. The day after that was PAINFUL. My quads! Oh my God, my quads! So sore. But day 3 hit, which was Saturday. I was on fire! Just look at all this stuff I did: 1 hr 15 minute vinyasa yoga class, made home-made beef bone broth, rendered 2 quarts of tallow, baked Chunky Monkey muffins, roasted root veggies, walked 3.5 miles while listening to the The One you Feed podcast, cleaned up all the leaves from the front yard, cut all the stalks from last year’s prairie grasses, cleaned out the herb bed, took a shower, tried to go shopping for clothes (the stores were annoyingly busy), stocked up on staples from Target, and then went out with Tim for supper at Brix (they have a pretty good gluten-free pizza crust). Let me see….yep. I think that’s about everything.

So maybe it’s because it’s Spring, and it’s actually warm and sunny. Or maybe it’s because I was full of human growth hormone from the sprints on Wednesday! I need to monitor my energy levels on Day 3 next time we do sprints and see if the pattern repeats.

And there you have my sprint story. Riveting, eh??

Moving on to a little recipe review – I tried two new ones this week:

Gluten-Free Buffalo Chicken Meatballs – These were pretty good, but we used Habanero Louisiana Hot Sauce. As a result, they were literally insanely spicy. They gave me a stomach ache the first night I ate them, and they gave Tim a stomach ache when he ate them for leftovers. I want to try them again though, but use a much milder hot sauce.

Pork Chops with Apples – I have always loved pork chops and applesauce, so I had to try this recipe. I would say it turned out good, but it’s not as good as my favorite pork chop recipe. Plus, this dish is just not that pretty! It’s very beige. I won’t make this again.

The roasted root veggie recipe I linked to above is a definite keeper though. This makes a huge pan of roasted veggies which is great for easy leftovers. We sautéed some of the leftovers for breakfast yesterday and topped them with crispy over-easy eggs, then we had more leftovers for supper last night. I bloomed some spices (marjoram, coconut sugar, salt, sage, red pepper flakes, cloves) in olive oil and then added ground pork. Once the pork was browned, we mixed it with the leftovers. So tasty yet easy. I’m going to have some of that for breakfast this morning. 🙂

Hope you had a good, healthy weekend and were able to get outside and enjoy the gorgeous weather. Tim and I made up for our insanely productive Saturday by having a very relaxing Sunday. We did a little 12 mile bike ride, had a couple of drinks, and then sat outside by a fire for a few hours. It was perfect.

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The Awesomest Winter Boots Ever

March 9, 2015 heather

Yes, yes, yes. I know it’s been forever since I’ve written here. Life has just been unusually busy lately, what with the new responsibilities at work, a visit from my little bro, and yoga teacher training. Oh, and with catching up on Star Trek The Next Generation.

Speaking of “new responsibilities at work” – when I got my raise I tried to leash in my innate American need to spend all my extra money. I decided to buy just two things as a congratulatory gift to myself:

1. I wanted a pair of winter boots that I could wear outside in the snow and wet. I wanted them to have a flat sole (no heel), and I wanted the sole to have good traction. I also wanted the boots to be easy to get on and off. My current boot selection was not conducive to exercising outside in the cold months. My Frye Engineer soles were too firm, so I just slip and slide on ice. My Born knee-high boots had a good sole, but they are dress boots – meant to be worn on the outside of tights/skinny jeans. They look pretty silly with running pants tucked into them, and since they are knee-high, they are pretty heavy for long walks.

After a lot of research I discovered the Merrell Haven Duo Waterproof boots. They seemed like just the ticket. I put them on my Amazon Wish List, hoping the price would go down (a tactic that has worked for me in the past). Instead, they sold out! And they kept selling out! When my size in Brown finally showed up again, I ordered them immediately. They were about 1/2 a size smaller than I wanted, but I really liked how comfortable and pretty they were, so I ordered the next 1/2 size up. They didn’t have brown anymore in that size (sold out EVERYWHERE!), so I ordered “Goose,” which is like a brownish grey.

I have to say, I LOVE these boots!! They are super comfortable, especially with a thick pair of these socks. My feet stay toasty warm, the soles grip the snow, the boots are very light, and they fit comfortably under my workout pants. The side zip makes them super easy to get off and on. They are perfect for winter walks. I wish I would have bought them at the beginning of the winter, so I would have gotten outside more. If you are looking for great winter boots, check them out. Maybe you can find them at an end-of-season sale; although, if you have to pay full price for them, they are totally worth it. They are the winter equivalent of my Merrell Barefoot running shoes – perfect!

2. My other gift to myself was the Field Canvas Tote Bag from L.L. Bean. I needed a bag that would fit my huge stack of books that I need to bring to YTT. It also needed to fit 2 bottles of water, snacks, pens & pencils, handkerchiefs, notebooks, and a binder. I searched all over the internet, and even considered those expensive Filson-type bags for $300. Nothing met my needs. I wanted something with straps that fit over the shoulder, a cross-body strap, lots of pockets, and I wanted it to be attractive. This bag fits all of those requirements. The outside is beautiful dark-blue, rugged canvas, and the inside is soft flannel. It fits all of my YTT gear, but it also works great for a change-of-clothes bag. It scales up and down, is what I’m trying to say.

I know that yoga is all about teaching your mind to be happy with what it has (and relieving it from the constant stress of wanting, wanting, wanting), but these 2 purchases really made my life better! I’m trying to do less mindless spending by picking out items that are made with great quality and that will serve me well for years. That being said, I’m hoping that as I continue studying and practicing yoga, I can get my mind to the place where it doesn’t constantly crave that one “perfect” item for every problem. Eventually I will learn to make do with what I have and to be happy that I have it. I’m still learning though. We watched Yoga Is in YTT yesterday, and one of the teachers interviewed in it said something that I found very encouraging. He said that humans are super malleable – you can change yourself at any time. The really good can go really bad, but the really bad can go really good. I’m somewhere in the middle, so there is still hope for me to become really good!

Cooking/Recipes, Health & Fitness, Paleo, Uncategorized

Red Food, Magic Tea, and Rendering

February 9, 2015 heather

It’s been a busy couple of weeks, which is why I again have been so lax in posting! It’s ridiculous, I know. And I apologize. Now that that is out of the way, let’s get started.

1. I made a super tasty recipe yesterday: Roasted Root Vegetable with Sausage. This turned out amazingly tasty! I used the tallow that I rendered (more to come on that later) to roast the veggies. We ate it for supper yesterday, breakfast/lunch today, and for supper tonight. For tonight I cooked two over-easy eggs and put that on top. Awesome. This recipe is super easy, makes a ton, and has loads of stuff that is good for you in it. And it’s red. The beets make everything red. Including your poop.

2. One of the girls in my YTT program gave me a Jun scoby. Jun is a fermented beverage, made with green tea and honey. It’s called the “champagne” of kombuchas. It’s very easy to make, as long as you have the scoby. You bring water to 165 degrees, brew 2 teaspoons of green tea in it for 2 minutes, add 1/4 cup of honey, and let the mixture come to room temp. Then you add the scoby (which looks like an alien life form). Three days later, you have Jun! You can also do a second ferment, which makes the Jun less sweet and more fizzy. It’s a very delicate flavor. From what I’ve read, Jun is very mystical/magical. Some people who brew it meditate with their Jun and also play music for it. I don’t go that far, but I do tell people not to say anything bad about the Jun within the Jun’s hearing.

3. Tallow! We received several pounds of beef fat from the 1/8 of a cow we bought, so I tried my hand at rendering it, using this recipe. It turned out fantastic! It smells slightly beefy, but not overpowering at all. When in liquid form, it’s a very bright yellow color, but it cools to a milky cream color. I’ve given 2 jars of it away already and am already 1/2 way through my remaining 3rd jar, so I’m going to have to go on a rendering spree this weekend.

4. Porridge! Sometimes a hot, oatmeally type breakfast just sounds super tasty. So I decided to try this recipe. It turned out very delicious, but I’m not planning on making it again. It’s pretty carb heavy, for one thing (it has a banana, apple, and raisins in it). Also, with all the nuts, it’s a pretty expensive breakfast. It made a ton, but due to how carb-heavy it is, it’s not something I would want to eat for breakfast several days in a row. I keep reading articles that emphasize that you should eat carbs at night for better hormone balance, better sleep, and better body comp. If I did make this again, I would make it for supper, not breakfast.

5. And lastly, a quick update on my yoga-ing. I’ve been going to a hot yoga class at 5:30 AM, and much to my surprise, I LOVE it! It gives me a ton of energy for the day, and it’s so nice to know that I don’t have to worry about working out when I get off work. My hard work is already done for the day! It’s also much easier for me to control my schedule at 5:30 AM than it is later in the day, so I’ve actually been able to make it to a yoga class 3 times a week! I can’t believe what a big difference that makes in my abilities. I felt so much stronger and more focused in my class on Saturday, after going to class Wednesday and Friday. The only down side is, once my free classes run out (we get a year’s worth of free classes as part of the YTT program), I’m going to have to sign up for the $100 monthly plan at my studio, so I can keep up with practicing!!

And that’s my update! That’s a lot to throw out there, but I’m behind on writing for 2015. I gotta catch up!

Hope you are having a fabulous February so far. 🙂

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Casserole to Warm the Heart

January 4, 2015 heather

Yesterday was a rainy/snowy/blowy/inclement kind of day. I had a burst of energy in the morning during which I wrote a blog post, and then I was pretty much done for the day. I believed I started watching Gilmore Girls and crocheting by noon or so. My mood soon descended to match my low activity level, and I was glad to go to bed and hopefully wake up in a better place.

And I think I did! I started this morning by making some updates on our Primal Challenge Facebook page, I did a 60 minute super tough Yogaglo video, made Paleo Banana Bowls for breakfast, and took a shower. Oh, and I planned some tasty meals for the week. This is my last week before the Challenge starts, but I’m trying not to totally go off the rails. We are doing a Maintain Don’t Gain Challenge at work, where we try not to gain weight over the holidays. The weigh-out is on Friday, and I need to lose about 2 lbs by then! People who do not gain weight are eligible to win a massage or a $200 personal trainer package. I want to win both!! 🙂

Wow – I got sidetracked already. What I meant to write about is that since yesterday was so grey, I decided to make a hearty casserole to comfort our souls. I found this on Paleomg.com’s 10 list of recipes: Paleo Pumpkin Cream Chicken Casserole. It was so good, and also very easy to make! The only adjustment I would recommend is to cut the chicken breast into small pieces. One-inch squares are too big to eat. This was super tasty.

And that’s it for today! We have some errands to do, and I’m hoping to get outside and take a walk in the snow before it gets dark. Hope you have an excellent, fruitful Sunday.

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An auspicious start to 2015.

January 3, 2015 heather

Two very nice things happened to me yesterday that lead me to believe that 2015 is going to be a most excellent year.

1. My hair has been annoying me lately. As fellow curly girls know, it’s very difficult to find someone who understands the fickle temperaments of curly hair. It has a mind of its own and is horribly inconsistent. Some sections can be quite curly while other sections on the very same head are only just a little wavy. I went 1.5 years without a haircut – partially to let it grow out, and partially because I just couldn’t find anyone who really understood my hair. Well, my ends were getting so nappy that I was cutting them off instead of trying to comb through them, so I went ahead and got it cut. And…I lost all my length and was back to where I started 1.5 years ago.

Well, several years ago when Tim and I went to Minneapolis, I got my hair cut by a Deva-trained stylist. It was the best haircut I ever had, and it looked great for at least a year. But, I couldn’t drive 5 hours every time I needed a hair cut, so I eventually went back to a local person and ended up making do. However, I started researching Deva stylists again and found one in Mount Pleasant, IA, of all places! Since I took Friday off work, I figured it was a good day to try her out. Her name is Martha, and she owns Aurora Salon.

I loved her! She is a fellow curly girl (beautiful Bottecelli curls!), so on top of all the Deva Curl and Curl Artistry training she has been to, she personally knows the issues we have. She cut my hair dry, curl-by-curl. Before washing my hair, she asked me what I thought. I wanted a little bit more of an angle, which she happily put in for me. Then she washed and conditioned my hair, giving me helpful tips the whole time. Then she put in leave-in conditioner, gel, and used clips to give me some lift at the crown, and put me under a dryer for a few minutes. She finished off the style with the Deva blowdryer, and I ended up with perfectly curly (non-frizzy) hair. I was actually happy enough with how my hair looked to not have to go home and re-style it immediately. Here is a bathroom selfie after I styled it this morning to give you a general idea of the cut:

Martha charges only $45 for her curly cuts, which is literally 1/2 of what most Deva stylists charge. She also gave me a few small clips to use in my hair. Super sweet! I’m hoping this cut will grow out well (I would really love to get my bangs as long as the rest of my hair), but when this cut grows out, I’ll definitely be trekking to Mt. P again.

And on to the second thing that gives me hope for 2015:

2. I ordered this bracelet from HollaForMyMala on Etsy. The description said it’s supposed to help calm the Monkey Mind, which I have in spades lately, and it’s also supposed to increase confidence. The shop owner was unbelievably nice! She sent me an email and asked for some background on why I wanted the bracelet. I told her I’m starting Yoga Teacher Training soon and am really insecure about it (since I haven’t been practicing yoga for long). When I got the bracelet yesterday, she included a handwritten 2-page note with encouragement (she is also a yoga teacher). She gave me some great advice and comfort. She also gave me an extra gift – a beautiful solar quartz stone. The bracelet and the stone come with little sheets that tell you the powers/benefits of the stone. The bracelet is super beautiful, but unfortunately it’s really snug. I emailed her this morning to see if I can get it made bigger. Here’s a pic of the mala and the stone:

As I said, 2015 is off to a good start. Hopefully these ladies like to drink cold beverages with warm hands because I’m sending them both a coozie as a thank you gift. 🙂

Hope your 2015 is off to a great start as well!

Cooking/Recipes, Health & Fitness, Paleo, Uncategorized

PORKIN!

December 25, 2014 heather

Ha – gotchya! This post isn’t about what you thought it was about. You pervert.

One of the benefits and drawbacks of buying a whole hog is that you have tons of pork to eat. I love pork, but we probably eat too much of it. We need to widen our horizons as far as meat is concerned, but it’s hard to do when you have 100 pounds of pork chilling in the freezer.

I used a few pounds of it this week in a couple of new recipes:

1. Beyond the Bite Hawaiian Pork Roast. This recipe was very easy to make, and the flavor of the roast was delicious! However, the cabbage got a little overcooked, so its texture and color were a little unappetizing; although, the actual taste of it was good. Even though the recipe only calls for 3 T of ginger, the whole roast had a really nice ginger tone to it.

2. Easy Glazed Pork Chops. This introduced me to a new way of cooking pork chops. We usually either grill them or fry them on the stove. With this recipe, however, you cook them on the stove for 4 minutes on each side and then bake them for 6 minutes. They end up cooked perfectly! I would definitely make pork chops this way again, but I would not make the glaze. Tim HATES vinegar, and this sauce was super vinegary and made the whole house smell like vinegar. I personally liked the flavor, but I won’t subject Tim to the vinegar scent again.

And today is Christmas. Tim and I are going to head out for a run shortly, and then we’re going to play some cribbage, eat some homemade stew, draw, bake cookies, watch some Lord of the Rings, and crochet some slippers. Sounds like a perfect Thursday in my opinion!

Oh! And one more thing to note. Some friends of mine and I decided to do another Primal Challenge in January. It’s kind of become a tradition at this point. I originally started the primal diet 3 years ago in January, and for the past 2 years, I have re-done the challenge to help myself get back on track and to help introduce some friends to the diet. This year we are making it a little more official. I set up a Facebook Group here for us to communicate and encourage each other. We are doing it 1/11 to 1/31. If you are interested in joining up, hit me up on Facebook. I’m excited to see how it goes (and I’m excited to have a strong excuse to turn down delicious (but super unhealthy) treats at work!).

I hope you are enjoying your day off and can get outside and revel in the cold sunshine. Thanks for reading!!

Cooking/Recipes, Health & Fitness, Movies, Paleo, Product Reviews, Uncategorized

Swedish meatballs, yoga pants, and crocheted slippers.

December 21, 2014 heather

Chris Kresser links to the best recipes! I found this recipe for Paleo Swedish Meatballs last weekend in one of his posts. Holy cow. These turned out sooooo delicious! They were a lot of work for a weeknight meal, as you need to cook the meatballs in batches on the stove top until they are all done. But they are so worth the effort. Here are a couple of notes – I used a 2 inch scoop for the first batch of meatballs, and I had a really hard time turning them without them falling apart. I scaled down to a 1.5″ scoop after that, and those meatballs were much easier to handle, and they cooked much more evenly. Also, I was 85% sure that the “gravy” would not turn into gravy. It was super runny all the way up until I added the 3rd tablespoon of tapioca starch. Then, magically, it started to firm up to gravy consistency. So rich and tasty.

For a side dish I made roasted brussel sprouts because I found some local ones at The Food Hub for 2.99/lb. I used this recipe as a guide; however, instead of making the glaze, we poured the gravy over the cooked sprouts. I have to say, we were not super happy with how these turned out. They were very dry (maybe I didn’t add enough oil?). So, when we stored the leftovers, we mixed the sprouts and the meatballs and gravy together. The sprouts marinated in that rich gravy overnight and were super moist and tasty when re-heated.

I also tried this recipe last week: Crockpot Ropa Viega with Cuban Style Rice. This turned out OK. Tim and I both thought the dish was a little over-spiced, and the meat didn’t turn out as tender as I hoped. Tim ate the leftovers with white rice, however, which cut down the spice level a bit, and he said that was really good. However, this recipe did provide us with supper and enough leftovers for two more meals.

So on to my next piece of news. For our anniversary Tim got me an amazing pair of yoga capri leggings from Onzie. I wore them to an hour and 15 minute yoga class, and they kept me very cool (the fabric is really thin). I also wore them running, and they were very comfortable. He got me the Prizm print. It a cacophony of patterns, and it gives you something really interesting to look at while in downward dog. I don’t know if yoga pants are the proper dristi for yoga, but looking at them made me happy, so I think Yoga would approve.

I start my yoga teacher training class on 1/9, and I feel as if I really need at least one more pair of yoga pants for the class. Unfortunately the prints I really love at Onzie are all sold out of my size. I’m going to keep my eye on it though.

And finally, the last topic of my post. Ever since we were little, my mom has made us awesome crocheted slippers (the slippers are courtesy of Mom – the hair is courtesy of Lucent):

Mom has shown me a couple of times how to make them, but once she is not next to me, I forget how. So I found this YouTube video on granny squares (the slippers are basically 3 small granny squares stitched into one big granny square). With his help and a few texts back and forth to Mom, I was able to successfully make all the pieces for a pair of slippers:

And this is currently where I am stuck. Over the phone, Mom walked me through how to stitch the pieces together, but my first attempt ended very poorly. I was distracted by David Bowie’s hair and other things in The Labyrinth and didn’t have the pieces lined up well enough, so they didn’t connect where they should connect. I’m going to try it one more time, and if that doesn’t work, make Mammacita sew them together for me. 🙂

So that’s my week in a nutshell. Hope you are having a great Sunday and can get out and enjoy this 40 degree day. Take some Vitamin D and eat some salmon, and you won’t even miss the sun!

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Querulous Tummies

November 30, 2014 heather

This has been an interesting, odd week. First of all, Tim came down with the flu on Tuesday, which was an inauspicious start to a holiday week. Fortunately, it was a pretty short-lived flu. Well, I should say the really bad part of the flu (throwing up and body aches) was pretty short-lived. Today is Saturday, and Tim still is not feeling like a normal Timmy Tee.

I was convinced that my robust primal meatbag would be immune to such a silly, niggling thing as a flu. In other words, I was convinced I would not get sick. However (yep, there’s a however) on Thursday morning I woke up early, and my brother and I did the 23 degree Turkey Trot in downtown Davenport. It was actually a really great 5 mile run. There were some windy sections, but overall the weather was great, as was the crowd. There were even some blessed souls who bundled up and stood on street corners to cheer us on and to encourage folks by handing out Krispy Kremes!

After the race (which Nate and I did in a comfortable 52 minutes or so), we walked to Macs and joined the sweaty throng for a couple of tasty Blood Marys. Since Tim was still not feeling 100%, he dropped us off and picked us up, which really helped us stay as warm as possible. It was awesome!

We got home, and I started prepping this slow cooker turkey breast recipe. I made myself an aeropress coffee, added a celebratory shot of Templetons and proceeded to play a rousing game of Tick with Mom, Dad, Tim, and Nate. I started to notice that my belly was feeling uncomfortably tight, but I attributed it to being too busy to take off my leggings and running pants. I finally took a break and changed into comfy yoga pants, but my tummy didn’t improve. I put a ham in the oven and then went back to wholloping my family at cards. However, the longer I stood playing the cards, the more I realized that I wasn’t feeling quite right.

When the game got over, I sat on the couch and finally admitted to myself that I was sick. I felt super foolish for not realizing it sooner and probably exposing all of my family to my germs while playing cards. I went straight to bed and just laid there staring at the ceiling, with my legs pulled up (stretching them out hurt my stomach). My head hurt. My back hurt. My muscles that haven’t ran 5 miles in 6 months hurt. I got sick. I slept on and off from about 2PM until the next morning. I woke up and felt remarkably better – good enough to go out for breakfast and to spend the entire day away from home, checking out the Figge, Bucktown, and LeClaire. I still wasn’t feeling normal – still chasing a bit of a headache and dealing with a touchy tummy, but overall, I was pretty good.

So, while my diet didn’t wholly protect me from getting sick, I think it helped me get a very mild case of it and recover pretty quickly. Nate and I even did a yoga class this morning! I was afraid that all that twisting and core work would cause some issues, but I actually ended up feeling BETTER after the class than before it. Although, SOMEONE farted during the class. I was convinced it was my brother who was right next to me, but he denies it. And I’m pretty sure he would own up. So, it’s possible it was me. I mean, I’m pretty sure it wasn’t me, but who knows? A fluish tummy is an unpredictable thing. But, man, was it ever a smelly fart!!

And back to that recipe I made. It got very mixed reviews. Dad & Nate really liked it. Nate said the veggies were done perfectly. Tim and Mom, on the other hand, did not like it at all. Tim said he didn’t like the shallots with it. I couldn’t be the tie breaker because I didn’t try it. Maybe because I had it in the Nesco while I was succumbing to the flu, the smell of it was no good to me. Fortunately Nate liked it so well that he ate all the leftovers. The ham turned out very tasty, and I had no problems eating it.

I also ate quite a few coconut chocolate bars before I got sick and one yesterday during the recovery stage. And now they do not sound appetizing to me at all. I should have made myself eat everything I crave (chocolate & sun-butter, Whitey’s ice cream, Panera scones, etc.) on Thursday so that I could cure myself of the cravings.

And that brings us to today. I was feeling pretty great, but now I’m getting a headache. Writing a blog post while riding in the car seems to have instigated some motion sickness. Blurg. Wow. And now I’m pissed at my MacBook because I had to type Blurg 3 times before it stopped auto correcting it to Blur.

I hope you had a healthier Thanksgiving than we did!